The Legend of Hyperion
by DanteLeo
Summary: Sasuke Uchiha, husband to Mirajane Strauss and father of a little girl and a baby boy. A man of imense power and a model to the next generation of mages. But no one with that much power lives long enough without a few secrets on his back, five years ago he did something terrible, something that he himself doesn't want to remember. 1st Fic. Not Sasuke/Centric, Main Char not OC.
1. Chapter 1

Chap 1

First Fic Ever, you will have to forgive my English since I'm not from the US neither from the UK or from any other country that speaks english.

Annoying- **Disclaimer** -Nobody-Reads: I own nothing, not Naruto Shippuden or Classic neither Fairy Tail, only thing that I do own here is my story and my oc character.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I fear that the poorly made summary and it's lack of typing space has affected somewhat the popularity of my fanfic (that or me and two other people are the only ones who think that the story's plot is worth reading), so allow me to clarify this to you, this is NOT Sasuke centric, the protagonist is not a OC, anyone can guess whom he is just by reading the first chapter, however, for the sake of maintaining any semblance to mystery I ain't gonna say whom he actually is; the OC is actually the little girl that is Mirajane's daughter, Lisa. Also, please try and read up to chapter 3, I have posted the first two chapters a year before I have posted the third and I have become a better writer, while I have revised the first two entries, they are really short, not as well writing and thought out and I may have missed some minor plot points that I had reconsidered over the last year. Rambling over, enjoy.

-Magnolia Town, Kingdom of Fiore. X779

The raindrops fell soundly against the rooftops of the small town, the moon was hovering proudly on the sky, bathing the dark and empty streets with the little light it could. In amidst the darkness of the midnight, a lone building stood out, with a single shining window that led to the last illuminated room of the town, in that room moans could be heard from the bed, where a couple made the most sacred of acts that two humans could practice together, the male's soaked raven hair hid his face and danced around his head with every thrust he gave. The female lied on the bed, with her long silver locks sprawled over the pillow, her face was just as wet with sweat as her companion's, both her arms hugged gently her bulging belly, she was pregnant, suddenly she took hold of her lover's hair, by the neck, and brought him closer to her, smashing both of their lips, her navy blue eyes stared loving at him, and his onyx ones stared back, with the smallest of emotions showing through. Just as his legs were about to give out, he pulled back his hips and with a mighty thrust he led them to absolute ecstasy, both of them screamed out all the air off their lungs. They stood still and silent for several seconds, until the woman's body slumped into the white sheets and the man quietly settled at her side. She snatched his arm and rested it between her generous mounds, and, shortly after, she fell asleep, he was about to follow suit and reached to the small candle on the end table, but he was brought to a stop when he felt that something did not feel right, the air became increasingly heavier and dryer, the temperature dropped so that he could see his own panicking breath, the light was extinguished by the shadows that started to grow ever near. A vicious pair of savage ruby eyes stared back at him, he couldn't see the owner of those two horrible things, but he was sure it was in front of him when he felt something grab his neck and raise him from the bed, he struggled but it did no good as his hands found nothing, the cruel eyes glared at him as his skin paled, his vision darkened and his chest stopped slowly stopped moving. He desperately looked to his left, but his companion had disappeared and the bed was empty. just as his end seemed near, he saw a light and heard a faint and soft voice from afar.

"da... w...e ...p"

"dadd... wa...e up."

"Daddy wake up!"

"DADDY WAKE UP ALREADY!"

-Magnolia town, Fiore. X784

Onyx eyes snapped open with fright but were quickly shut by the sun that invaded his living room and bypassed the security of his curtains.

"Daddy~ wake up." groaned a feminine but childish voice. "We are late. Again."

Looking down to his belly, he felt something, or rather someone, bounce on top of him; a little girl, no older than 5, with platinum locks that reached down to her shoulders and playful sky blue eyes, she used her petite arms to push the man's chest in a vain attempt to move him.

"Get up. Mommy is already at the guild with Shiro-chan and you are late." She exclaimed vehemently.

"Tch. I'm going, Lisa. There is no need to yell." with a heavy sigh he poked her forehead and made the girl yep and fall off him and into the fluffy carpet. He stood and sat up, showing that his torso was bare, all his muscles were sore and his bones were hurting, his back was put back in to place with a series of "poping" sounds, sleeping on the couch was bad for him it seemed. "Alright Lisa, I'm going to get ready, but wait in the kitchen so I can take a shower."

"Okay Papa!" she chirped happily and ran away, sprinting through the corridor. He headed to the bathroom at the end of the corridor and looked at his reflection on the mirror, his silk-like hair did not suffer from hours of sleeping, it covered his right eye like a dark curtain but left the rest of his handsome face exposed; he was not a over muscled fellow, but had a well defined body, yet the bad night of sleep in that hard couch had taken it's tow on him, his left cheek was red from the uncomfortable position he was sleeping in, also he had, under his onyx eye, a heavy dark bag, caused from insomnia most likely.

"I look like shit." He concluded to himself.

After taking a quick shower and a even faster breakfast, the man led his daughter through the door and down the stairs, now donned in a midnight-blue cloak that covered everything from the neck down; he stopped after locking the front door when he felt a tug coming from the end of his cloak, his daughter was looking up to him with a pleading face and hands stretched upwards. He knew what that meant, he took her by under her arms and settled her on his shoulders, she grabbed his forehead and gave a little bounce of joy on top of him. "Is good to have you back home daddy!"

The man allowed a small smile to form at his daughter's sweetness, he looked up to the hill by the lake, where a towering oriental-like building stood out from the rest of the town, towering over all the brick houses around it, it's roof was orange, and the golden dome at the top reflected the sun rays across the town, like a beacon, signaling the greatness within the three stored edifice.

"Home... eh?"

-Magnolia

The man and his daughter walked towards a big pair of round doors that formed the entry of the tall, oriental building, adorned in the wooden the arch-way, in bold, however, elegant, orange letters, the name "Fairy Tail" was displayed proudly for any passerby, showing to the world the home of one of the most successful mage guilds of the kingdom. Lisa was put on the ground by her father, who reached for the doorknob, though the man stopped before he did opened the wooden gateway, rather he grabbed the small child and jumped out of the way as a blue haired missile flew through the doors and crashed on the hard stone ground. The middle aged man lost conscious from the blow and stayed put on the street, head pressing against the stone and bottom raised high in the air. Lisa's Father stoically beheld the scene before him as his daughter giggled madly. Lisa took hold of a small stick and proceeded to poke the man in the ribs, grinning in amusement all the while.

"That should teach you who's the one that rules around this turf, Macao!" Exclaimed an angry voice from inside the building. A flaming boy sped past the double doors and proceeded to drop kick the downed man, or would have, if not for the over-protective father that would not let his daughter witness any sight of unnecessary violence. The boy grounded his teeth in pain as a feet found its way to his sides and sent him back flying through the entryway. "Who the hell...?" He asked himself, looking up, his eyes shined in recognition. "Sasuke! You're back! Fight me you asshole, this time I'll kick your fuc-" his rant was interrupted when a gigantic hand fickled him, sending him flying past the town's borders.

"No swearing in front my goddaughter, you morons! I swear, kids these days need to learn to have some respect." Grunted out a midget old man, the size of a toddler, garbed in funny orange clothes with a jester's hat and a horse-sized right arm. Behind him, a sweet-looking, however, gorgeous woman accompanied him, garbed within a red, frilly, dress that hugged every curve of her voluptuous body, her angelic visage was accentuated by the long silver hair that fell all the way to her lower back, her forehead was exposed due to the rather odd ponytail that gathered a small portion of silver strands and pointed them upwards; her serene blue eyes twinkled in amusement. Lisa runned to the embrace of the older woman and pressed her head on the female's bosom.

"Mommy! Grandpa!" She exclaimed.

"Good morning Lisa-chan, had fun with your dad?" The mother asked, giggling.

"Not at all! He slept all morning, I just woke him up!" She complained

"That's so, Sasuke?" The woman asked her husband. "Too much... excitement last night?"

"It was a tough job to accomplish." He apologized lamely.

"Oh, I'm sure it was very hard to do it; however, see to it so that doesn't happens again, next time I won't be so forgiving as to send you to the couch, understood?" She smiled dangerously. Sasuke merely grunted his way out.

"Right, Mira." He scratched his neck with a small blush. Mira took her daughter's hand and led her inside the guild.

"Problems in paradise, my boy?" The old midget asked.

"Hm. She smelled a woman's perfume on me when I got back, it was from one of the prostitutes of that one brothel that, at some point, I crashed in last night." He paused, realizing the implications of what he said. "Part of the mission." And quickly provided an explanation.

"Huh, sure it was." The old man snorted, disbelievingly.

"Whatever, Makarov." He grunted, yet again, and walked inside.

Fairy Tail's guild hall was full of life, friends celebrating for no reason, cheering and drinking beers until they would fall off their chairs. Mirajane was busy at the bar, with Lisa sitting on the counter, with, what looked like, a two years old baby on her lap, he had snow-white hair tainted by a few black strands that were clustered in a dot above the left side of his forehead, pale skin was what truly set him apart from other toddlers, giving him the look of a cold and delicate being; across of them, sitting on high-legged stools, a brunette and a blond girl chatted happily, the first was drinking from a barrel of beer while the latter looked in awe of her friend's drinking abilities. On the center of the hall the guild members were having a big brawl. Sasuke sighed and ducked his head out of the way just as Natsu tried to surprise attack him from behind but instead went flying through him and crashed at the brawl's epicenter.

"The Hell you doing here you shitty ash-for-brains idiot?" Shouted a surprised, angry and naked teen.

"Shut Up you exhibitionist freak!" He retorted hotly.

Susuke headed towards his wife that gave him the cold shoulder and went to serve drinks to the other members. His daughter giggled at his misfortune but one stern look from him made her quite, the brunette stopped drinking and looked at him with a mirthful smile while the blond looked a little intimidated. He took the babe into his arms, rocking him back and forth as the child giggled in delight. The man turned his gaze to the golden haired girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Who are you?" He blurted out, putting his younger child into his sister's lap. The girl was taken back at his sudden bluntness.

"L-Lucy, just Lucy!" She managed to respond. "I am the newest member. And you are…?"

"Lucy-san joined while you were gone daddy, Natsu brought her here after they destroyed the port of Haegon Town."

'But I didn't do anything!" Lucy thought to herself in an alarmed manner. But nonetheless she expected an answer from the handsome, however, intimidating man.

"Hm. Another destructive moron, then." Was all he said, as he left, off to sit on one of the still undamaged tables within the hall. Lucy was left gaping at his rudeness.

"That's just how daddy is Lucy-san, don't worry, he doesn't like most people."

"He's your dad? What is his name?" She asked, surprised. The pale baby spluttered some senseless sounds as if protesting against the older woman's statement, his sister recognized the meaning behind it and smiled, hugging the little boy a little tighter.

"Well, he's Shiro-chan's daddy too. His name is Sasuke, but I call him daddy 'cus his my daddy." (1) She smiled, seeing her baby brother trying to reach out for a plastic bottle that her mom settled by her side earlier. All the while Lucy was paralyzed, unable to comprehend what she had heard. Finally, she snapped and fell of her seat.

"EEEHHH? Your mom and dad are that much famous, how was it that I never heard of you two before?!" She screamed, sitting back on her bench. Lucy was somewhat slow, it would seem, having realized the fact several minutes after it had presented itself to her.

"Ummm. Some time ago there was this rude man that tried to publish about me on the Sorce-something-something, that weird famous magazine, but my dad didn't want his perso- his person-"

"Personal?" The drunken brunette provided.

"Yeah, thanks Cana-chan! He didn' want his what-she-said life out in the open, so he said that if he tried to write something about us, he will castrate him, whatever that means." She smiled innocently.

"Would castrate him, Lisa." Cana corrected and Lisa pouted.

"Tha-that's Creepy." Lucy stammered.

Doong

Doong

Doong

"What? It's already time?" The little girl cried out, giving her brother to Cana and jumping from the counter, then she sped through the double doors, out to the streets.

"What's gotten into her?" Lucy asked.

"Every Tuesday, on three of the afternoon, she just runs away from the guild without saying a word, we have already tried to tail her but she always seems to evade everyone without us even noticing." Cana answered.

-Magnolia, Central Square.

Lisa was running around town with a big and excited smile plastered on her face, deftly deflecting any person or object in front of her, her grin grew even wider when she saw the small bench under a great oak three, there she sat for the next couple of minutes, until she felt a shadow behind her, she turned around and jumped out of the bench, smiling, and looked up to the person behind her. A tall man, garbed in a black cloak that covered his body from the feet to the neck, where there was a collar so high that hid his head from the cheeks to the chin and bent towards his shoulders; covering his skull, preventing any attempt of recognition of his identity, a hood of the same color, came from beneath his cloak, which hid his face in shadows, revealing only his mouth and chin.

"Hi, Gaitō-san (2)." She smiled cutely, but pouted when the man ruffled her hair with his left hand. "Gaitō-san I already asked you to stop messing my hair." She whined.

"Can't help it, you are just too cute when you get excited, Lisa-chan." The man laughed, taking his hand off her hair and sitting on the bench; once he was settled, he patted the spot beside him so she would seat. "So, Lisa-chan… anything new happened since last time we talked?"

"Of course! A new girl joined the guild she is really nice her name is Lucy – no last name, funny huh? – She arrived with Natsu after they kind of destroyed a town. Aunty Erza hasn't not came back yet but-" She ranted rapidly without stopping to breath.

"Whoa! Whoa! Stop, take a breath and pause when talking." He chuckled at his young companion's excitement.

"Ok." She said, blushing in embarrassment.

-Magnolia, Central Square. Night

It was already dusk when Lisa had finished ranting, she was panting heavily trying to recover from the hours of speaking, Gaito smiled at the scene, but dropped it when he turned to the sky and put a hand on her little shoulders.

"Listen, Lisa-chan," he began seriously, making the girl look at him attentively. "I won't be able to come and see you for some time-" she made as if to protest but he held up his left hand to shush her "there is some things that I need to take care of, but that doesn't mean we will not see each other again, it's just that, there're some things, some bad things, that will happen in the next couple months, things that will put you and your guild in danger, especially if I come keep coming back to see you everyday, that's something I can not and will not risk. But I promise that as soon as things calm down I will come here for you again; I might even bring you a little gift when I come back, Okay? " He tried to lighten the mood with a smile, the little girl had her head down, obviously sad, but raised herself and nodded. "Come on, don't be sad, give me a hug so we can say our farewells, it's late, your mother will be worried if you do not come back."

"No." she replied simply.

"Eh? Why not?" he asked alarmed by the response

"It's not a farewell hug, it's a see-you-soon hug, you promised me that you will comeback when you can and I'm holding you to that!" She said with conviction that did not fit such a young infant, Gaito stood still for a second or two, dumbfounded, before he started laughing and hugged the little girl, settling her in on his chest.

When he finally let her go, Gaitō got up and started walking towards the tree behind them, once he stopped by the bark, raising his hand to wave at her, his body began to glow and fade away into hundreds of little lights that slowly transformed themselves into several small beings, tiny golden girls with bright butterfly wings and long pointed tails. The white-haired girl laughed softly in delight when she saw them and ran after the little creatures.

"Yes, keep that smile on your face always, Lisa, you will need it to survive the dangers that are coming after your family, it will be hard, but do not despair, I will always protect you... you are, after all, my precious little daughter." He whispered. A voice lost in the cold wind that swept through the night.

End

Her poor gramar is intencional, she is a 5 year old child after all.

Gaitō means hood.


	2. Chapter 2

Chap 2

-Office Master Makarov, Fairy Tail, Magnolia, Fiore. X784

"Sha la la, Itsuka kitto, Boku wa te ni surunda ~ " Lisa Strauss sang softly, wandering in a small room with a table full of papers, and behind the pile by the desk, sat her godfather that quietly stroked his big mustache He grumbled as he signed some papers, muttering something about Natsu, destruction and the Council of Magic. Her singing stopped when her eyes fell on a picture near the window; It looked kind of dusty and very old, the photo showed the whole guild and all its members posing for the camera in the middle of a party.

"Grandpa, Natsu, Gray, Aunty Erza-" she listed the names of the people whom she recognized "Levy-chan, Uncle Elf, Auntie, Daddy, Mommy and..." she paused as her gaze fell on a spot on the photo, a male figure between Mirajane and Sasuke, his face was erased, faded away by what looked like excess of sunlight, his arms, though, were visible and were wrapped around the shoulders of the Uchiha and the Waitress' waist.

"Grandpa?" she called and received a grunt in response, "Who is this man here, close to Mommy and Daddy?" Makarov raised his eyes from the papers on his desk to the picture frame in the child's petite hands; he took a good look and his heart almost stopped when he realized whom she was talking about.

"Uh ... why do you want to know who that person is Lisa-chan?" he asked, desperately trying to dodge the question.

"Why is he that close to my them? Why is my mommy huigging him?" She continued, looking passionately, ignoring the failed attempt by the old wizard, she hated when adults thought she wasn't supposed to know something they knew about.

"Uh, uh, you see, that's..." the legendary wizard began to melt before the little girl's gaze, still stammering, he said "L-look Lisa-chan, why don't you ask your mother about that? She is, after all the best person to answer that question yo you." Eyes closed and forehead sweating, Makarov awaited Lisa's reaction, but when he opened his eyelids again, she was no longer there.

"Those brats without any consideration for their elders. Hmpf!" he grunted and went back to work "Natsu did WHAT at the Duke Everlue's manor?"

(Change of scene)

-First floor, Guild Hall.

Mira was washing the dishes when she heard a high-pitched voice calling her name, looking back she realized that her daughter was trying to climb on the bar, catching her under her arms, the mother raised Lisa and put her sitting in the counter and gave the child a beautiful smile.

''What do you want, my angel? '' She asked sweetly. The little girl smiled back and lifted the frame to the level of the mother's eyes, she was surprised by the sudden gesture and brought her head back; she stopped to focus better on the photo and then froze.

"Who is that guy hugging you?" She asked.

''What? Where did you get that? '' The woman became alarmed.

'Just like Gramps a few minutes ago.' Lisa realized.

"Why this man is right next to you and Dad? I want to know who he is and if he is your friend and why I don't know him." she demanded, ignoring – once again - her mother's question and was also a bit annoyed that no one in the guild seemed to have a answer to her simple question.

"He was Mommy and Daddy's friend, Lisa." replied the waitress, praying that her daughter would be satisfied with the answer she gave her, however, luck was not on her side, when the little girl soon opened her curious little mouth to question her mother again.

"Was, did you guys fight or something. And where is him?" She insisted, her mother panicked, and kept quite, fortunately, luck seemed to favor her once in the waitress' life and she was interrupted by the doors banging against the walls and Loki, one of the guild's mage, staggering into the hall, tired and terrified.

"Erza" he said, with fear "Erza came back, she came back!" Loki said.

The silence and tension could be cut with a knife, all members began to sweat and hyperventilate; Natsu and Gray, particularly, lost all color on their skin and started to shake.

"Who is Erza?" Lucy asked innocently.

"She is the strongest female mage of our guild, so much that she was nicknamed" Titania, the Fairy Queen "she is a truly fabulous woman." said the oldest of Strauss, relieved from having to answer her daughter's questions.

At that moment, a huge shadow loomed in the lounge floor; the door was a figure, hidden by the sunlight. Lucy clung on Mirajane arm with eyes closed, after some time she opened her eyelids, looked toward the door and held his breath when he saw a beautiful woman with red hair like blood, using an ornate silver armor with a golden cross , a blue skirt and black boots, had a figure like that of most guild girls. Showing have an impressive physical strength, she carried a huge horn encrusted with jewels on his shoulder. The woman entered the room, being surrounded by magicians around, all too scared to approach the redhead. She opened her cruel eyes of dirt colored creating a cold and malevolent aura around her, his gaze fixed on Mirajane, who continued to smile.

"Mira ... where is Master at?" she asked, causing all members to hide under the table.

"He's not here, Erza. He left half an hour ago for the meeting of Masters in Clover." It was the calm response from the waitress.

"I see, there is no time to try and catch up to him, then." Erza whispered to herself. "Listen here you fools! Master may forgive the many blunders you do, but I will not. Wakaba, clean the tables from these cigarette butts, Cana, straighten your back while drinking, and put down that barrel and grab a mug; Nab pick a mission already and get out of the board, Macao ... "she started to crack down on members surrounding her.

'What is she? A disciplinarian? ' The blonde asked herself.

"By the way ... Happy." The redhead turned to the cat.

"Aye?"

"Natsu and Gray are around here?" she asked stoically.

"Aye Aye Sir!" the flying kitten replied, pointing to his right.

"Hey Erza. We are just being good friends as ever." Gray, the naked exhibitionist replied, shaking and sweating a little while hugging Natsu.

"Aye, Sir." Natsu completed. 'Traitor!' He screamed to Happy within his mind.

"Eh? Natsu turned Happy!" Lucy cried silently. The blonde turned to hear a giggle coming from the little girl sitting at the bar.

"That's what Aunty Erza does with them, she is very rigid, so that keeps the order when Grandpa is not here." the little girl clarified the situation to the blonde.

"That's good, but best friends may argue from time to time. But I'd rather see you two acting kindly with one another." she said nodding.

"Yeah, but we aren't best friends." Laughed nervously the boy.

"Aye, Aye" agreed the other.

"Natsu and Gray are too afraid from Erza, Natsu once challenged her to a duel and ended up on the ground." said the white-haired woman to the blonde.

"You kidding me, right? Our Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Yep! My aunt also caught Gray walking around naked and Loki once tried to kiss and get gross her, so she gave them a beating." Lisa explained with an amused smile.

"While I am glad that you are doing well, I'm afraid I have a serious matter to deal with, something I would have dealt with the master if I was here before he left." she said seriously and paused, took a breath of air and prepared for what she was going to say next "Natsu, Gray and Sasuke... I need your help on an urgent mission."

And that alone was enough; a single sentence to paralyze everyone in the building, Natsu, Gray, Happy Mirajane, Lisa and even Sasuke gave a shuddering. Lucy wondered what the problem was, he saw nothing wrong with someone asking for help to friends. And as if reading his thoughts, Mirajane spoke.

"Erza never asked anyone for help before, she has been able to maintain an impressive reputation for always completing the most dangerous missions on her own." the older woman could speak, after having recovered from the slight shock.

"What could this mission be?" He wondered the blue cat.

"Okay, we leave tomorrow, met me at the train station." she said and turned to leave.

"B-But I haven't even accepted." Natsu tried to argue while Gray remained locked.

"Wait, Scarlet. Why do you think that I'll agree to go with you, frankly I see no reason for me having you follow along with Natsu and Gray, you three can basically take care of anything you can you go up against. " Sasuke, who up until then, was in the corner of the room, drinking silently, approached the Titania.

"It has to do with a demon of Zeref, Sasuke. If things wind up badly, I need someone that knows how to handle one." The woman whispered sharply, so that only he could hear. Sasuke stopped with a serious expression on his face and seemed to accept the answer.

Lucy, surprised and a little confused by the events, looked Mirajane when she saw the waitress began to shake on the spot.

"Natsu, Erza, Gray and Sasuke-kun, this may be the strongest team ever made in the guild." She murmured.

"And you scared of what? Isn't this a good thing?" Lucy asked confused.

"Don't you see? If Natsu alone can cause so much destruction, picture along with three other people on the team, two of them are even stronger and the other isn't a slacker either. They can cause a catastrophe! Lucy, you need to go along to mediate the nerves between them.

-Magnolia Train Station

Lucy hit her hand against her forehead in an act of frustration. Behind her was the pair of rivals, Natsu and Gray, fighting like children and causing minor chaos and destruction in the train station.

"Shut up you two, all you do is cause trouble!" She shouted. "Damn it, why can't you understand?" she complained.

"What the are you doing here Lucy? Erza didn' call you." Natsu asked abruptly.

"Mira-san asked me to come along." The blonde lamented, remembering the brief conversation she had with the waitress. Lost in thought, the blonde did not notice a big shadow approach her until she was completely covered "What... ?" she asked as she turned to see what was causing the shadow. And there was Erza pulling wooden car with a enormous luggage mountain.

"Excuse me, did you wait long?" she asked.

"Uh, no, but Sasuke-san has not arrived yet, we need to wait for him." Lucy also responded wordlessly by the amount of luggage.

"What are you talking about? He's right there." Pointed the redhead at the train. And in one of the car windows was the fifth member of the team, eyes closed and his hand on his face.

"Huh? When did he got there?" she asked to no one in astonishment.

"By the way, what's your name? I remember you were in the guild yesterday." Erza asked interested.

"Ah! My name is Lucy; I'm the newest member of the guild. Mira-san asked me to come along, so I will do my best to be helpful." she declared while bowing.

"I am Erza Scarlet, it's nice to meet you." the older woman returned the gesture "So it's you that everyone is talking about, they tell me you've defeated a mercenary gorilla warlord and his army of vicious apes, you are very promising." she praised. Lucy lowered her head, full of embarrassment and whispered something along the lines that it wasn't her who did anything of the sort.

"The mission will be a little risky, but from your performance in the last job, I'm sure you'll be fine." she continued with a smile.

"R-Risky?" Lucy shuddered. She opened her mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a noise coming from the car; it was Sasuke beating against the glass to get their attention.

"Stop talking nonsense and come soon, the train is about to leave." he said, clearly bored.

Erza nodded her head, and waved her hand for the others to follow. They were coming through the metal door when Natsu reached into Erza's shoulder, holding her before she could go any further; the redhead turned to face the flamboyant younger mage.

"What is it that you want, Natsu?" she asked, impatient to get on the train.

"I don't know what we gonna do now, but I trust you, and even if I don want to travel with this perverted," he gestured with his head pointing to Gray who was with an angry expression "I will go along, but under one condition. " he said gravely.

"Condition?" she questioned with the same expression.

"What the in the fuck are you doing? You mindless dumbass?" Gray almost shouted at him, but was completely ignored by the pinkette.

"Blurt it out already, so we can go." Erza barked at him.

"When we get back," He paused "I want you to fight me and you too Sasuke! I'm different from when we fought the last time." He shouted the last two bits.

"What? Do you want to die your retarded, they will kill you, don't you remember what Erza did to you in the last time?" Gray yelled surprised.

Erza stood still, her eyes covered by blood-red hair, her lips arched on a serious expression and her jaw pressed against the rest of the head, her body remained motionless and hard as a rock. The tension was palpable, even Sasuke who was behind the redhead, having stood up to rush them undoubtedly, stopped, concerned with the response that Titania would give. She smiled quietly, clearly finding the statement somewhat fun, and a small hint of pride could also be perceived on her upside down frown, not directed at her, but rather for the young lad.

"You really have grown Natsu. I'm not very confident in myself but that's okay. I accept your challenge, when we get back we both will fight." She agreed on the condition of the boy

"What the fuck do you mean, you are not confident, fight me seriously!" Natsu complained his fist on fire.

"I will, I'm just saying you're too strong." she laughed softly "And you Gray? Will you fight me too?" she added.

"No no, I don't want to, I have a very good life." He quickly added.

"Come on. I don't want to be late and fail this mission." Sasuke interrupted rudely.

"Hey Sasuke! You still haven't answered me, will ya' fight me?" Natsu complained angrily.

"You will not be able to defeat Scarlet. And if you can't do this, it is useless to attempt to beat me. But I promise, though, that when I recognize your superiority over Titania, I'll duel with you." he also agreed with his own condition.

"Awesome! I'm all fired up! Come on!" roared the boy with his face flaming. Erza lost her smile though.

"What do you mean by that Uchiha?" she asked angrily.

"Exactly what you think I said Scarlet." he replied cooly.

"You fiend, I shall-" she was interrupted by the train jolting, meaning that it was beginning to move, leaving Lucy outside of ir.

"Hey! Hey! Don't leave me here guys!" she pleaded.

"Oh Lucy take my luggage!" Erza shouted back.

"I can't it's too heavy! Natsu, help!" she yelled back and, paying little attention, stumbled and would fall face down, if not for a pair of arms pulling her to the wagon in an firm embrace. Lucy looked up and saw the smiling face of the pink-haired wizard. Her face flushed from the proximity.

"Uh ... huh." she mumbled.

"Uhm? I did not know that you and Natsu were already in a romantic relationship." said Titania, finding it all very funny.

"It's not like that! And what do you mean by 'already'?" Lucy screamed embarrassed. All Erza did was chuckle at the situation.

-Somewhere in Fiore.

The once proud temple, of ancient and Eastern origin, was ruined by time and by the many servants of nature, which impaled thick and powerful roots against the large stone blocks that made up their elders walls, the roof of the entrance rested on the floor, since one of the pillars had given up years ago. The paint, worn by the years and the humidity, told a story long forgotten, decorated with demonic masks of horned Hannyas. In the center of the abandoned temple, in the ruined altar sat a figure dressed in a black cloak and face covered by a hood. Gaitō looked at the paper in his hands, examining it carefully.

"So they are chasing Eisenwald after all? Are you sure that your source is reliable?" he asked apparently to no one, since the place was empty.

"Of course I have. My job gives me full access to all kinds of information that I need." a female voice in the dark replied, a little irritated.

"We both know that was not where you did get this information, Mi-"

"Do not call me by my surname. I do not want anything that has to do with It, plus, I like it when you say my own name." Brusquely interrupted the voice.

"You and your paranoia, we are alone in this place, no one in ten kilometers of here can hear us." Gaitō said.

"Still, caution is never enough." He justified the voice.

"Really? Is that what they teach you in that place? You sound like a mindless machine." he spoke.

"And you? What did they teach you in your guild? How to destroy stuff with complete disregard for the consequences? Do you even realize how much work you and your kin give me?" Barked the voice at Gaitō.

"They, not 'you', they. ' the hooded man insisted.

"Ugh. 'They', okay? They cause me a lot of work. By the way, how was your meeting with her?" the voice asked interested.

"None of your business, Ultear." Gaitō retorted.

"Ow. Don't be like that Hyperion-kun. I just want to know how my future stepdaughter is doing." Ultear said playfully, stepping out of the shadows of the temple and bathing in the sunlight that penetrated from roof crack.

She was a stunning woman with a curvy body and pale skin, dark brown eyes and black hair cut in hime style, she was dressed in a short, white and revealing kimono, tied by an orange obi. Her brown eyes had a playful glow, but also hidden wisdom and pain that did not quite fit at such a young face.

"We've talked about it. We're not married Ultear, we slept together only a couple of times. And do not call me by that name." he said.

"Same thing, one day you will end up giving in. And if you don't want me calling you so, stop saying mine." Ultear argued.

"I have no time for this Ultear. I'll be going." The hooded man muttered, rising from the altar and through the woman towards the door. Ultear turned and grabbed him by the shoulder and spun the man to face her.

"What? Are you going to leave me alone here? You have no sense of romance, do you?" she questioned "We haven't done anything, it's worse than the last time! Really? Not even kiss?" she complained, poking him in the chest. Her efforts proved useless when the body of Gaitō began to dissipate into small particles of light.

"You ... You ... don't you dare do this to me again." but it was too late, Gaitō had disappeared completely, leaving a furious witch alone in the abandoned temple. The ground began to shake and a white aura wrapped the woman, stone blocks began to dissolve into dust and wood pillars rotted away until the roof caved in and the entire temple finally collapsed.

"I hate when he does that!" she roared to the heavens.

End

Next chapter gets better, promise.


	3. Chapter 3

Chap 3

-Oshibana Station, Fiore, X784.

The sun wasn't even out yet and life was already hurling problems and chaos against Fairy Tail's face.

The team of fairies hurried up the body-filled steps of Oshibana Station with Erza on the lead. The sight of the once white marble stairs painted red with blood only strengthen the redhead's conviction while Natsu and Grey became increasingly angry, Sasuke was apathetic to the situation while Lucy was too busy puking her guts out on the floor and receiving pats on her back from Happy.

"These bastards will pay!" Seethed Natsu, flames bursting out randomly from his body.

The team as a whole silently agreed with him. Reaching the front door of the station that led to the lobby, Erza touched the iron gate, filling it's material and strength, she walked back one step and kicked the doors open, they unhinged from the archway and flew inside. Lucy, scared, braced herself for the shockwave and the dust she assumed that would soon follow, she waited a few seconds, then a whole minute and the blonde beauty still felt nothing; slowly Lucy opened her eyes and was surprised by the sight of the double doors floating above the ground, they soon fell down with a loud "clank" sound, revealing a flying hooded man with an enormous scythe and his hand outstretched, facing them. The man began laughing and soon was joined by the crowd of men beneath him, which Lucy had just only noticed.

"The fabled Queen of Fairies, Titania, and her little servants, we've been expecting you lot." The hooded man told them.

"Erigor, The Shinigami, I presume." Began Erza with barely contained fury. "Release your hostages at once, you fiend!" She demanded, thrusting her armored finger forward. Lucy blinked, having not seen the small number of people tied to the side of the crowd, she really needed to work on her observation skills. All the men in front of them began laughing harder, some falling over themselves and holding their stomachs in pain, the mage floating above them, clearly the leader, pulled down his hood, showing his, face-splitting, crooked grin and bright white mane that adorned the crown of his tattooed head to the fairies.

"That's right girl! I'm the almighty Shinigami, the new Master of Eisenwald!" Erigor proclaimed, spinning his weapon around his shoulders. "Now bow before me and my men and we might let you live... after we have our fun with you that is." He spoke lustfully, eyeing Lucy and Erza up and down, the mages beneath him began murmuring and whispering excitedly.

"You truly are a worm of a man. Shinigami, we shall stop your nefarious plans and put an end to your miserable guild!" Erza exclaimed, materializing a broad sword to her hand.

"Finally, I am all fired up already!" Natsu jumped foward, fists ablaze.

"Wait!" The Shinigami commanded, spinning his weapon and producing a tornado that blasted Natsu through the archway and down the steps. "Don't you fairies have any manners? How rude. I'm not done with my monologue. As you surely know, I'm in the possession of an ancient and deadly artifact of Zeref, The Lullaby!" The lobby went silent, Eisenwald's mages were anxiously awaiting for the fairies' reaction; Erza and Gray were seething in anger, Sasuke narrowed his eyes and Lucy went silent, as for the hostages, those that didn't know what Lullaby was, were already panicking at the mention of the Black Mage's name. "And so, you must also know that, should I play this little flute right here, as humble as my musical skills are..." He pointed his finger to the skull-shaped flute that dangled from his neck. "All the heads around here will begin to go *pop*!" He grinned.

Erza had heard enough, she launched herself against Erigor, sword at hand and in mid-swing; her eyes glaring viciously at the Shinigami, as her sword went down she felt a sudden pain to her side. Erigor had caught her between the scythe's pole and it's blade, the white haired man brought his scythe close to him, planning to sandwich the redhead in between him and his blade, a mistake. Erza summoned another sword and pointed both of them to Erigor, as the Shinigami brought her closer, she impaled her two blades through the man's shoulders. He screamed in pain as he began to fall towards the ground, blood flew from his mouth as Erza landed, drop-kicking the life away from him. The opposing mages were silently terrified at the crushing defeat that their master had faced.

The redhead, however, was forced to jump away from her opponent as black tendrils burst from a light pole's shadow and tried to pierce her, too busy trying to parry all the blows, she didn't saw a chubby girl ran up to Erigor and slowly heal his shoulders, all other mages roared and rushed to meet the fairies, their morale restored by one of their compatriots attacking the Titania and cornering her. Erza's reaction was much faster than the tendrils but she was quickly getting overwhelmed when more whips of shadow began to close on her by all sides. She quickly scanned the room for her foe, she found an young man with pineapple-shaped hair crouching on the ground and arms evolved by shadows that crept through the floor.

"Gray!" She screamed "Take out that pineapple-headed guy!" She had the impression that her commentary had angered her foe if the increasing amount of tendrils were anything to go by.

"On it!" The nudist shouted back, lunging at the man.

No one had noticed Erigor picking himself up, slashing the chubby girl out pf anger and fleeing.

-Fire Exits, Oshibana Station, Fiore, X784.

Amidst the panicking hostages, neglected after the skirmish began, a black hooded man examined the scene; Gaitō trailed Erigor with his eyes as the white-haired mage fled from the fight. Once the man was out of sight, the hooded hostage got up, mysteriously cut off his ties and ran after him, he stopped, however and looked back to the fight, specifically to Fairy Tail's members, he stood there, quietly, for half-a-minute and then proceeded chasing the dark mage once he was sure that nobody else was watching him. He tailed Erigor down to a silent and empty corridor with several blood-stained and shattered doors, broken by what looked like an enormous blade. Suspicious, he slowly opened each door, creeping inside, they were either empty locker rooms or toilets. He closed the last door in frustration, he was wasting time and this was probably a decoy aimed to hinder anyone trying to follow the Shinigami, he continued his way forward, following the blood trail, he turned right in another path, towards the fire exit. Suddenly, he stopped and stood stiff as a statue, a sense of dread overcoming him and giving Gaitō the chills all over the hairs of his body, he looked back and on the ground, he saw bloody footsteps that led to the path opposite to him, he slowly looked up, following the footsteps, and he beheld a tall man, easily reaching his own height, with his back turned to Gaitō, he fearfully noted that the individual wore a tattered hoodie that still managed to hide his head from the world, black balloon pants that reached to his knee and leather sandals, The air rippled around him as steam covered his frame and dried blood tainted his clothing, it was actually hard to distinguish it from his dark red skin (1), but the blood stains and open cut weren't the cause of the bloody steps, no, the source of the crimson liquid on the ground was actually the fountain of blood that dripped from his missing right arm, it splashed onto the ground, cooling off with a silent "hiss". His whole body was burning and the man shook in pain as the blood on his veins boiled and raged within him. He slowly and painfully, struggled to turn to Gaitō, but before he could see the mysterious individual's face, the boiling man exploded, hot blood poured out, more than that body could've actually holden. Gaitō was washed away and slammed against a wall, he tried to claw his way up the wall, he tried to blast it, but all efforts were for naught as his skin burned from the contact with the raging red liquid, he felt himself drown.

-Unknow Place, X784

The world was black, and Gaitō knew nothing while floated way in the dark void, he heard voices that he, for so long, longed to hear again, but could not make out what they said, he only heard muffled giggles and chuckles, forgotten memories of a time long since past. With his eyes closed he could still see their faces, though blurry, he could never forget that lovely shade of white that had made him happy for so many years of his life. The man reached out to grab on to that image, but he could not do it, what he left behind after that day he had lost forever, he had made a commitment to himself, he was to begin his life anew and live his past behind, he wasn't the man his former friends once knew him as and now he had a new goal, a new dream, a new mission, a new life. Gaitō opened his eyes and, with his magic, tore through the darkness like a blinding beacon of light.

-Main Lobby, Oshibana Station, Fiore, X784.

The sound of meat falling on the ground echoed through the lobby as the last of the dark mages fell unconscious on the floor. Erza sheathed her swords, Sasuke dusted himself while Natsu and Gray measured their body counts to see whom downed more men. All the while Lucy stared owlish at the sight, what an incredible battle she had witnessed, Erza and Sasuke were particularly amazing, not letting a single mage touch them, even Natsu proved himself a monster on the battlefield, burning and punching his way through the crowd of mages, she caught herself staring at him... until the blonde heard an annoying, high pitched, giggle next to her.

"You like him~!" Happy rolled off his tongue, giving her an knowing look.

"Do not!" Shed denied "You stupid cat!" She grabbed Happy by the face, threw him on the ground and started stomping the life out of him with her high heels.

"Didn't... knew that... oof... you used such skimpy underwear, Lucy." He teased, smiling morbidly.

"Stop looking up my skirt!"

-Fire Exits, Oshibana Station, Fiore, X784.

When Gaitō woke from his short-lived slumber, he found no blood on the corridor and no burn on his skin. He laid against a wall completely drowned in his own sweat and drops of his bodily fluids descended from his forehead, maneuvered his browns and clouded his vision when they fell on his eyes.

'Shit. Another one of those tricks that my mind likes to play to me, they were supposed to have stopped sometime ago.' He swept his hand across his forehead, drying his head of any sweat drops. 'I wonder though, why this time I saw a mirage of that day, normally I see the aftermath of the invasion. Ugh, my head hurts, 'tis best that I don't dwell on this.'

He decided, Gaitō pulled himself back to his feet and ran along the path leading to the exit.

'Weird,' He mused 'that hasn't happened since two years ago, is it because... No matter, I will figure it out later.'

He reached the exit and shielded his face when the wind began picking up, his sense kicked and he was just fast enough to jump out of the way when a enormous cyclone formed around the building, cloaking it from the world outside. He turned to his right and saw the Shinigami spinning his scythe around his neck, the man opened a hole through the tornado and disappeared within the vicious torment of winds. Gaitō stood back up, walked to where he saw last saw Erigor and looked up at the towering tornado.

He cautiously reached out to touch the tornado with his hand, he found out that while it went through without any resistance, it was when he brought his hand back that the spell did react, at first, he thought his left arm was stuck, he then brought it back with greater strength and roared when the tremendous pain was registered on his brain. What was left of his wrist pulsated with a golden glow, sore at the spot where his hand once was. Gaitō focused his magic on the end of his severed wrist and, with a flash of light; his hand was back, born anew.

"This thing is dangerous." He said to no one but himself while panting slightly 'I'd better head to his real target; if he really wanted to attack this town he could do so without Lullaby. However, if he were to try and enact revenge against the ones who had wronged him, than he stands a better chance with that flute... well, not so much if master is there. Better safe than sorry I suppose.'

He turned around, showing his back to the tornado and looked at the horizon.

'If I remember correctly, than Clover Town is that way.'

A golden magic circle appeared under his feet, shining with power as his legs were evolved by a golden glow up until his knee; and so, one moment the hooded man stood there, tall and powerful, back turned to the imposing cage of wind and eyes glaring against the morning sun and than, a second later, he was many hundreds feet in the air, flying away towards North-East direction, to Clover town.

-Oshibana Station, Fiore, X784.

"Gods damn it! That fiend is going to try and kill the guild masters!" Shouted Erza, kicking and slashing the cage, in a, so far, failed attempt to break them free of their wind prison, besides her were Natsu and Grey, both of which were knocked unconscious by Erza when they decided to resume their competition and Natsu, who blasted the wind cage with a torrent of fire, suffocated them with an ashen inferno while grey, attempting a similar tactic, froze their bottoms when he accidentally created a blizzard; Lucy was too busy hiding from the redhead, scared shitless after the display, Sasuke was meditating, all the while, Happy was happy, oddly enough, given the situation.

"Pipe down Scarlet, that dumb fool is stupider than I first thought if he thinks he can take Makarov on, almost as stupid as you are being, trying to punch your way out of this, you're acting similarly to the likes of Natsu." Sasuke crept an eye open from his relaxed pose.

"What did you say, bastard?" Erza snapped, all the stress weighting on her shoulders finally overwhelming her focus. She lunged at Sasuke, who jumped out of her way dodged her sloppy, anger-filled, attack.

Lucy sighed from behind her hiding spot that was a cardboard box.

"Why is it that there isn't a single normal person in this guild, don't they realize that shouting isn't going to get us out of here?"

"You have a plan, blondie?" Asked the flying feline that was happily munching his fresh salmon. The blonde beauty was about to reply to the annoying cat, her personal opinion, but was interrupted when something shone gold and trembled on her waist, than, realization hit her like a slap to the face.

"Hey you guys-"

-Oshibana-Clover Railroad, Fiore, X784.

Finally, the time for Eisenwald's revenge was upon the masters! He would crush every single one of those old fools with the overwhelming might of his power. Those were the thoughts of one "Shinigami" Erigor that flew at neck-breaking speed towards the HQ that held the annual meeting of guild masters. And truly, things were, at last, looking good for the renegade mage; his plan was working beautifully, sure not everything did go as planned -he hadn't expected that redhead to be so vicious in battle, most light mages weren't- but, in his mind, the plan would ultimately be a success for him and his guild. All was well for Erigor indeed.

And so, he was shocked, to say the least, when he suddenly plummeted towards the ground as a golden backhand assaulted him out of nowhere; his brain barely had time to register the sight of the hand's owner, a tall man hidden by a black hood, before his face met the steel of the railroad bridge. After some minutes, Erigor crawled out of the dent that his forced landing against the rails had caused.

He stumbled on his feet a few times, his head still ringing, before he managed to regain some sense of awareness. The white-haired man looked around for his assailant but found no hooded man.

"Where is Lullaby?" A gruffy voice demanded behind him.

Erigor spun on his heels, scythe on his hand, and slashed the man in half, or rather, he would have, had Gaitō not blocked the blade with his, now injured, forearm. What kind of a man has flesh this hard, he wondered.

"The hell are you?" The Shinigami shot back. He was ignored and his foe once again demanded.

"Where is Lullaby? Do not make me say it thrice." He warned.

"You wanna know where it is?" The white-haired man glared viciously at his foe. "It's all the way up your mother's worn out cunt, you fucking bastard!" He taunted.

The man's bandaged hand grabbed the Shinigami by his face and raised the criminal from the ground; he clenched his fingers against Erigor's skull, making the rogue mage groan in pain, while his other hand grabbed onto Erigors descending scythe.

"Where. Is. It?" He demanded.

"Fuck... off." Was Erigor's response.

"I told you not to make me repeat myself again." His assailant's hand shined with a golden hue, magic so intense that burned the master of Eisenwald' skin. A golden sphere formed around the man's hand, pulsing with power, and exploded on Erigor's head. The man fell to the ground, face scorched black and hair burning. He coughed terribly, black smoke and blood exiting his lungs; he saw another shining fist falling down towards him and, thanks to years of fighting against the rune knights, he was just quick enough to blast Gaitō away with a powerful gale of wind, he regained his scythe and proceeded with a series of vicious slashes against his opponent, wind cloaked the weapon and flew after Gaitō in the form of wind blades. The man grunted each time he was cut by one of Erigor's attack; in the end, he could barely stand as several gashes on his flesh burned his sense. Yet, the Shinigami noted, there was no blood coming out of his wounds, the interior of his flesh glowed instead of gushing out blood, slowly, his injuries began healing themselves, leaving only steam behind.

"You're very skilled..." He ripped his tattered cloak off him, revealing a black hooded trench coat and some dark pants. " ...at pissing me off."

The man pointed his hands towards Erigor, with a golden magic circle summoned to his palms. The dark mage had only so much time to duck out of the way of the beam of light that tore through the air towards him, from his position on the ground he watched as the beam zoomed past him with a booming noisy and destroy the nearby flora that was besides the railroad, trees fell upon each other as the beam tore a solid hole through their bark, the ones that did not fell were burned by the sheer intensity of the light, heating the leaves and the wood to hundreds of degrees. Erigor idly noted that his opponent had just started a major forest fire.

-Road to Clover, Fiore, X784.

"Come on, machine! Keep up!" the Queen of Fairies screamed at the magic car in frustration. "Why won't this piece of junk go any faster?"

"If we go any faster we will start flying Scarlet." Sasuke retorted, dragging the blonde girl back to her seat, she had fallen off the car when the redhead made a particularly sharp turn in high speed. "Keep your eyes on the road, if we crash now, we won't be fast enough to catch that man."

She turned the wheel to the left, riding through several bushes, dodging rocks and speeding up.

"I know that! Do not presume to lecture me on how to complete my mission Uchiha, I **will not** let anything put master's life in danger!"

Sasuke would retort, but kept silent in favor of bracing himself when Erza led the vehicle to a cliff and rode off the hill, falling on the railroad bellow. The occupants of the cart grunted when the vehicle landed, the suspension groaning with the impact. Soon after both S-class mages resumed their quarry.

"Guys… " Gray tried to get their attention.

"Not now Ice-boy! We need to catch up to Natsu." Sasuke retorted, trying to convince Erza to give the wheel to him on the grounds she was riding recklessly, the nerve of the man.

"Yeah? Still think you should see that, look what that idiot did this time." Gray pointed towards the forest on the horizon, smoke painted the sky black as the forest fire spread through the woods.

"What? It can't be, Happy isn't that fast, even more so with someone as heavy as Natsu with him." Erza reasoned.

"She is right, I can still feel Natsu's presence nearby, he is over the mountain range, too far from that forest for it to be him, he most likely can't see that yet. Which begs the question… " Sasuke provided.

"Who or what did it? And is it at all related to our current predicament." Erza finished for him, she powered up the engine with her power, going even faster as the machine groaned in protest.

-Oshibana-Clover Railroad, Fiore, X784.

"Last chance. Where is the damn flute?" Gaitō demanded a forth time.

"Over my dead body, fucker." The Shinigami shot back, spinning his weapon and launching a twisting disc of air towards the man.

"Why do they always have to fight back?" He wondered. "I ain't gonna be fooled that easily Shinigami." He turned his back to the wind attack to block Erigor's scythe with both his hands, the man had used the wind spell as a distraction so he could attack Gaitō from behind. The twister however, kept going, drilling itself on his back; flexing his muscles, in a futile attempt to stop the pain from reaching his brain, he consequently snapped the blade of the scythe in half with his hands. Erigor, stunned by the feat, stumbled back, falling over himself and onto his bare back, but no such shock would freeze a man like Erigor for long, he soon got up and flew into the air as Gaitō threw another fist at his direction, the hooded mage felt the white-maned man gather a substantial amount of eternano as the air around him turned to wind and enveloped him into a armor of sorts, similar to the towering cyclone tower he had created but a few hours ago.

The Shinigami laughed madly and arrogantly. "This is my ultimate defensive spell, light mage, an impenetrable armor of wind, nothing will hit me, but, unfortunately for you, I still can use my magic to obliterate you!" He had said.

'So, the opposite of that huge cyclone back then.' Gaitō concluded 'Nothing enters but anything can exit it. Hand to hand isn't an option here, neither is trying to overpower it, the wind would just distort the flow of my spells. Shit, this is gonna attract some attention.' Gaitō mused before, he too, flew into the air above, standing at the same level as the smug rogue mage. He clapped his together and began to concentrate, his limbs began to, once again, glow a golden hue; the ertanano revolved around him, swirling and being absorbed by Gaitō, from behind the man's hood, Erigor saw his eyes shine through when magic circles were summoned to them, twin balls of light that seemed to outshine the stars, blinding the sight of the dark mage.

"Don't know what you are going to try and do, but I would give up now if I were you, pal. There is no way you are going to win this, I've been playing easy with you up until that last stunt you pulled, but now... now I'm serious and aiming to kill." He advised, covering his eyes with his forearm.

Gaitō said nothing, but his opponent noticed that the flow of magic that was being pulled towards his foe had dimmed, taking that as a sign of his surrender, he smirked.

"Wise choice." Erigor bragged as he brought his arm back and summoned a swirling spear of wind that shot out from his raging armor to his right hand, Erigor prepared to throw it, aiming to pierce the heart; he force himself to a halt in mid-move though, when he heard Gaitō murmur something. "What was that, your last words?"

Again, Gaitō said nothing, now Erigor was beginning to get pissed, and this heat that popped out of nowhere wasn't helping at all; he looked up towards the sun, his aggressor. Only, it wasn't there, he was shocked to see a giant magic seal blotting out the UV rays and was emanating even more light than the celestial body.

"I said... " Gaitō began, serene and golden eyes staring him down through his very soul. " **Law** "

And all Erigor knew was light.

-Tunnel to Clover, Fiore, X784.

"Damn. This is one big ass tunnel, I can't even see the light at the end." Gray commented.

"Great, now we can't see what is happening up ahead, great job Scarlet, I told you to take a right and follow Natsu around the mountain." Sasuke complained.

"Uchiha, I swear if you don't shut your mouth I will strangle you and Gods help us if we crash because of that." Erza threatened, turning around to glare at the raven-haired mage; he understood that the time for bantering was over and that they needed to be ready because as soon as they got out of the mountain they would have to face Erigor and, possibly, another foe. Suddenly, they went through a curtain of smoke that filled the tunnel; the car wobbled around when Erza neglected to maintain control of the automobile in favor of expelling the toxic air out of her lungs.

"What's this smoke *cough*?" Lucy coughed, shielding her watery eyes and her mouth.

"The forest fire, it must *cough* have reached the mountain and the smoke must be filling this place." Sasuke reasoned, using his cloak to shield his face.

"Shit, were are gonna suffocate before we can reach the end, even so, we'll end up right on the wildfire." Gray cursed, ice-making a mask to protect him of the poisonous gas. Once he looked down to his creation, to see if the toxic smoke could get to him, epiphany hit him like brick to the face. "Wait, I get it. We might make it out alive! If we manage to get to the end of the tunnel, I can freeze the forest and the fire once we're out!"

"That's *cough* a pretty good idea Gray, well done." Erza praised him, smiling at the mature attitude her childhood friend displayed. "Finally, I can see the light now, we're saved." Erza was, indeed, relieved, now only thing left to do was to finish kicking Erigor's ass and find out what caused this fire. A violent wind blew through the tunnel, blasting away the smoke and slowing down the automobile, the passengers braced themselves, gripping at anything they could.

"I don't think that is sunlight, Scarlet." Sasuke stood up, maintaining his balance by gripped onto the roof of the cart, his eyes flashed red for a second and he stumbled back. "It is getting closer..." He squinted his eyes only to rapidly widen them again. "Turn back, **now!** That is not light, that is magic, a ridiculous amount of magic, we've to get out of here, at once!"

"There is no time, we're going too fast, if I pull the breaks now, the cart will roll." Erza argued.

The light blinded them and the car was lifted from the ground by the wind. Erza gripped the wheel so hard that, if not for the booming sound of the gale going through the tunnel, one would have heard it crack loudly, Sasuke held onto the cart's metal structure while Gray froze his feet to the floor and Lucy looked close to pass out. Team Fairy Tail screamed all the air off the bottom of their lungs, whether out of fear or determination, it was hard to say. When the wind reached the cart on it's strongest, Gray had to break his ice and shield the flying Lucy with his body, to prevent her from falling off the car; Erza hit her head on the wheel when the magical automobile impacted the ground and fell unconscious, blood painting her forehead the same color as her hair, Sasuke was forced to stab his sword through the floor of the car and into the wooden planks of the rails and he gripped it until his fingers turned white, he managed to stabilize himself and looked towards the end of the tunnel, the coming wave of light was mere feet away from them; he had no other option but to release the seal.

"Curse it!" A dark, purple aura shot out from the raven-haired mage quickly enveloped the whole car and everyone within it.

-Above the tunneled mountain, Fiore, X784

Happy darted above the forest with his petite angel wings while his short arms hugged Natsu and held him from underneath his arms.

"Are you seeing him yet, Happy?" A severely annoyed Natsu asked his best friend.

"Nay, Sir!" The oddly cheerful cat replied

"Damnit! Where the hell is that bastard? He's gonna pay for throwing me away from the fight!" Natsu declared, outrageousness dripping from his tongue and flames bursting from his mouth. "Hey. What's this smell? It smells of... food." His mouth watered at the thought of a delicious burst of fire and how it would make for a great snack, his stomach was beginning to ache with hunger.

"It ain't a snack, Natsu. It's a burning forest." Happy popped the Dragon Slayer's bubble with apathy. Indeed, a small forest fire had began near the railroad bridge, a place where Natsu, as oblivious as he was with his surroundings, could sense a great deal of magic being cast in short periods of time.

"What? Who the hell did that?! No matter, he must be strong! I'm all fired up! Let's go Happy, Supersonic Mode!"

"Aye aye, Sir!" The feline chirped.

Happy flapped his wings thrice as fast as before, covering ground at impressive speed and leaving a rippled air behind him. It wasn't long before the blue cat tired himself and could no longer keep flying in the same speed. Sweat dripped from his furry forehead and his mouth blew away pink strands of Natsu's hair when he began panting.

"What's the matter, Happy? We're gonna miss all the fun if we don' get there quickly." Natsu said.

"Sorry, Natsu~. It's just so hot all of sudden. I'm tired."

"Really? I don't feel a thing."

"Of course you don't, you are a fire mage. But can't you see the sun shining brig-" The magic cat stopped himself upon looking up to the offending celestial body. Like Erigor, he was stunned when he found that the usual ball of fire was not illuminating the land; in its place was the bigger magic seal the young feline had ever seen in his short life. It would have shadowed miles of ground were it not also emitting a light of its own, a annoyingly bright light at that.

"Whaaat the hell is that?" Drawled out the fire mage. He grinned excitedly having witnessed what promised to be a hell of a strong spell. He smashed his blazing fist against his other hand, grinning ferociously. "Now I'm definitely fired up!"

He would have bragged about how he would beat the crap out of however did that, had the circle not launched an absurd amount of magic that blasted away the trees and put out the fire, causing even more damage than the previous disaster, the bridge began to shake, threatening to fall of and the pair of Fairy Tail members found themselves being hurled away, towards the mountain behind them. Natsu's reflexes were quick enough to kick him in time to shield Happy against the impact once they crashed against the rocky formation, shattering the ground and carving a crater on the mountain side.

Happy fell unconscious the moment they impacted on the soil. Natsu, however, managed to keep himself awake for the next few minutes, the sight of the devastating spell burning onto his memory, it was something he would recall for the rest of his life. The last thing Natsu saw before darkness claimed him was a shadowy figured hovering far off in the distance, in the epicenter of the blast.

-Tunnel to Clover, Two hours later, Fiore, X784.

The Fairy Tail team had, certainly, seen better days. Two hours had passed since the incident and most of them had yet to wake up, a crooked purple aura stood protectively around the mages as a headless rib cage floated in the center of the purple energy, it's towering arms dig deeply on the rocky ground in which they stood; the cart was no more, a wrecked pile of junk and mechanic components was all that remained of the automobile, Erza was planted headfirst against the broken driving wheel, dried blood marred her face and her brain had not yet dimmed that it was time to wake her from the deep slumber the redhead was in, Gray was nude, somehow, and lying several feet away from them in the railroad behind the wreck; Sasuke found himself on top of the pile of destroyed machinery, sword in hand and blazing red eyes that were fighting a lost battle against exhaustion, the bonny spine that connected to the eerie rib cage floating above them was protruding from his back, bruises and small cuts tarnished his smooth skin, but, other than some tattered clothes, the raven-haired male was in good shape, as good as a car crash survivor could be anyhow. That was the whole picture that Lucy found herself in when she woke up, bones hurting and muscles aching; she made an effort to get up, she fell right away upon filling a blinding agony take over her mind as her leg burned with pain, she looked down to the place of her suffering some blood dripping down her right leg and a, thankfully, rustless iron pole stabbed through her thigh; Lucy whimpered quietly when her muscle twitched involuntarily, making the pain all the more intense.

"Don't move, girl." She heard Sasuke tell her. "You are only going to make it worst. Once I make sure the others are okay I'll patch that leg for you." The blonde nodded weakly, lacking the strength to respond verbally. The crooked skeleton began to crumble into the purple mist as it, too, began to fade back inside the Uchiha. Minutes later, Sasuke would find the strength to get up and check on his companions, he concluded that Gray was fine, just some rather nasty bruises on his back, it's what happens when a human body goes for a slide on a concrete ground several miles per hour; Erza was harder to wake up, her head still hurting from the wound, Sasuke offered his somewhat adept medic skills, but she brushed of his offer, stating it was "but a flesh wound", in another occasion, the raven-haired man would have argued, but they had yet to be updated in the recent events, for all they knew Erigor could be battling their master at that very moment. All said and done, Sasuke did as promised and went to nurse Lucy's wound, giving the angle on which the pole stabbed her through, she had, much to her embarrassment, spread her legs so Sasuke could have access to both sides of her wound, consequently, it gave a clear view of her underwear to any onlookers, she felt a little more comfortable, though, when she heard Erza threaten both males if they stared at her or otherwise attempted to do anything perverted; Sasuke merely grunted in response to her intimidating declaration, Gray, however, blushed hard and sputtered some nonsense as his futile defense.

"Scarlet, hold her leg down a grip the pole so it won't move." The redhead did as instructed. "Girl, this is going to hurt, I have to cut the iron bar because the less it goes through you leg again, when I pull it out, the better." The blonde girl nodded, salty tears of pain rolled down her face as she bit her lower lip. Sasuke unsheathed his sword and grasped it by the blade, carefully as to not slide his hand along the edge and cut himself; the Uchiha called upon his magic and his limb was enveloped by a black fire, Lucy began to sweat, fearing being burned by the blazes; the hardened steel slab that was the sword's blade began to heat up and give off a light red hue, the raven-haired mage brought his weapon down and began to slice the iron pole like it was a piece of paper. Lucy whimpered, the iron moving ever so lightly inside her muscle, she felt Erza grasp her hand while Gray pinned her leg to the ground so she would not move and burn herself, Lucy's heart pumped rapidly, her focus moving from the excruciating pain burning on her thigh and to the concern that her newly made friends were displaying towards her, even though these people hardly knew Lucy, add to the fact that they only knew each other for less than a few hours (for less than a month in Gray's case) and they cared for her more than most people she had knew through out her life, with each passing hour Lucy felt more and more that she had done the right choice when she picked Fairy Tail as her guild.

-Outside the Tunnel, Fiore, X784.

Once everyone was patched up and able to move the fairies headed out of the tunnel, they still had to find the flute and the team couldn't head back without Natsu and Happy, no matter how much Gray insisted in doing so. Sasuke headed in the front, sword in hand and prepared for any attack or ambushes, Erza helped the limping Lucy by supporting her arm over the redhead's shoulder and acting as the blondes extra legs, the guild's resident nudist followed behind them, walking uncomfortably after Erza had forced him to Ice-make some underwear, stating that it was improper to walk around in the nude while in the presence of two damsels, Gray retorted her last statement sarcastically, that explained the black eye and busted lip.

The second they stepped out of the mountain they were greeted with a sight that wouldn't leave their memories for quite some time. The land was scrapped clean, no trees nor any kind of vegetation was around anymore, they were thrown miles away, far from the mountain range; strangely, the wild fauna remained, scared shitless and utterly confused, but, save the presence of some bruises and messed fur, they were healthy enough; although given the scarce numbers in the area they found themselves in, which the team assumed it was the blast's impact point, and given the influx of creatures that flocked to the spot, they were most likely blasted away but otherwise unharmed. The bridge had been blasted to splinters and it's remains were piled up in the dark depths of the chasm, the railroad was destroyed beyond recognition, the once rigid steel pathway was reduced to a pile of bent, broken and smashed metal. In the center of it all, laid the demoniac looking flute; the wooden skull's eye glowed purple as it trembled on the spot, as though it was alive and sentient. That was not what concerned Sasuke and Titania the most, however, it was the missing Erigor, or his body (whichever), that put them on edge; Erza gently laid her blonde companion down and went ahead with Sasuke to survey the area, ordering Gray to look after their downed member.

"This doesn't smell good Scarlet, but I can't pick up Erigor's signature anywhere near us." Sasuke quietly commented.

"Neither can I, this whole thing seems fishy to me, and this air is giving me an unsettling sensation. Go check on the flute, Sasuke, I shall watch your back as you do so." She commanded, silver swords at the ready in each of the redhead's hands.

Sasuke carefully approached the musical instrument of total doom and hovered his hand inches above its wood, as if he was expecting it to jump and eat him. He closed his eyes and felt no malicious intent coming from the dark object. 'Odd' he thought, how could an artifact of such dark power could contain no malicious intent towards ever living thing? He had a hunch, a very, very risky one, but he supposed it would be amusing to see his companions faces once he pulled it off. He gently picked the flute, still filling nothing, he turned around and stared at Titania.

"I don't feel anything strange coming from this thing, other than its regular power." He commented idly. Erza let out of sigh of relief, her back arching forward and chest thinning from the oxygen exiting her lungs. "That being said, I feel a lack of something emanating from the artifact." Before anything could be said, Sasuke brought the wooden instrument to his mouth and blew on the pipe. Erza froze on the spot, a terrified look on her face at the sight of such "betrayal", Lucy screamed, scaring off the birds and all other fauna while Gray was snapped from his daydreaming and looked around confused. Several seconds passed and silence reigned over the wasteland, nothing but the sound of the blowing wind hit their ears; Sasuke smirked at them and pulled the flute from his mouth. "It's as I thought, the flute is broken."

Years of battle experience were the only responsible for the lightning fast reflexes that enable the male mage to duck once Erza threw her whole collection of weapons at his face, veins popping on her temples and her hair paled to the crimson hue that the woman's blood painted on her face.

"What in devils were you thinking, you blasted fustilarian piece of shit?"

Erza requipped her right side with a gargantuan yellow armor, making he center of gravity shift as the redhead favored her left leg to stay straight, she summoned a equally towering spear and brought it down against the earth, piercing the ground where the imprudent mage once stood.

"Calmed down yet?" He'd ask, stoically, as if he wasn't just attacked by the dangerous and angry woman.

"I may not be able to render you punishment, Uchiha. But master is more than capable of that and trust me, I shall make sure he knows about this stunt you pulled just now. You had no reason to believe that the flute would fail and we would be unharmed, you have put the life of your teammates in danger and that is the one iron rule in Fairy Tail." She promised passionately her fellow guild member, whom merely grunted back at her. The redhead turned her back to him and went back to the downed blonde girl, Erza held the still freaked out Lucy by under the arm and supported the female with her armored shoulders. "That's why you don't ever trust that damned man, he's always up to no good, trust me on this, Lucy." She advised the rookie mage. The girl nodded, wishing nothing more than to rest, her first real mission had given her a hard slap of reality to the face, things weren't as easy as she was hoping, at least she had very strong friends -and one apathetic odd guy- to rely on if her magic ever failed her. She, as well as everyone else, was brought out of her musings when a loud scream echoed through the newly made wasteland.

"Fuck! I'm hungry as hell!" It was heard for miles as the roar travelled through the air, caring a familiar voice with it.

"Seems we found the idiot." Gray commented, seemingly disappointed.

"That we did. Come, let's get him already, I want to lay on my bed as soon as possible." Erza said, exhausted.

"No Arguing here." Lucy agreed with the older female.

"Don't forget we still need to check on the masters before all is done." Sasuke added, slowly walking behind them.

"Blast you." Was her unladylike response. "You shall be responsible for this task, since you seemed so eager to point that out, Uchiha." She replied, venom dripping out of her voice; it seemed like she would hang that over his head for quite the long while, were Sasuke's thoughts.

-Somewhere in Ishgar, X784.

"So?"

"So what?"

"How'd it went, jerk?"

"I've made certain that Lullaby was secured by Fairy Tail's team, what's there more to say?"

"It can't be just that. You took far too long to complete such a simple task, besides, I was present on Erza Scarlet and Sasuke Uchiha's "trial" and they claimed to have seen an incredible concentration of eternano on the spot they found the flute in. That has got to be your handiwork; you're losing your touch Hyperion-kun, whatever happened to subtly? And to the Shinigami for that matter?" Demanded the pale beauty that was Ultear.

"We fought, me and Erigor that is, he was pretty tough to beat, the man has earned his spot as an S-class mage, even if his a rogue one. Ultimately I had to put him down with **Law** , as for his body, well... didn't see one" Gaitō replied, comfortably leaning against a rotten wood pillar, slowly sliding downwards, until he finally sat on the dusty floor.

"Bullshit! We both know that man is a S-class mage in nothing but name. What happened that has forced you, of all people, to use such a spell in a nobody, almost lose your cover and come back here in rags and limping? This isn't like you. I remember the man that brought me to my knees with but a single attack, the mage that has driven me to become stronger when he presented himself as an obstacle to my dream; who, not three years ago, was one of ten other legendary mages that were part of a mighty and prestigious squad of elite warriors. So I will ask again. What. Happened. There?" She commanded, magic flowing through her, rotting the railing of wood she was grabbing onto. It was something Hyperion had noticed over the years they were together; Ultear was not someone who appreciated having information being kept from her, specially when it concerned him, she would get very angry very quickly, she would start to blast and break things at random like a toddler whose toy was ripped from his arms.

Gaitō went silent, as was Ultear, they both remained there in silence, the only thing that could reach their ears was the sound of waves crashing against rocks and wind soaring through the windows and holes that adorned the walls of the ruined building they found themselves in. All was still, until Gaitō couldn't take it anymore and he whispered something.

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"They've come back, the mirages. Though, this time it isn't about the day when we first met, it is, rather, about the time in which he saved me ."

"Your last hours as a member of Fairy Tail?" She asked, changing to a more soft tone. "Didn't these cursed things stopped appearing two years ago?"

"It seems the ones from before have disappeared, I'm thinking that it's somehow connected to my encounter with my former fellow guild members. They (the mirages) are, after all, visions of my departure." Gaitō analyzed, he got up and walked towards the center of the room, making sure that the light coming from the ruined ceiling bathed only his chest, showing his scarred and bare torso to the only other person in the room.

"I've thought, hoped, that you had been cured, somehow, of your PTSD and that you had already let go of those memories." Ultear commented sadly, looking down to her feet.

"It is hard to forget something like that, Ultear. Even more so when everyday I wake up and I feel hollow and incomplete, when I know a longing sensation of something lost to me forever ago, this... this phantom pain that makes me relieve that one moment when my life was taken from my grasp and torn apart like a frail piece of paper. That one moment that haunts my memory every time I close my eyes." As he said that he took a step forward, letting his nude body, from his goatee down, be seen by the pale woman, all the scars that adorned his flesh, they all looked alike, as if some large savage animal had assaulted him with long and sharp claws that had ripped every muscle of his body, and those weren't even the worst, no, by far that title was bestowed upon his severed right forearm (1), a nasty combination of burns and scarred slashes marked his elbow and biceps, the tip, where she had always assumed that it was where the scar would be in its most horrifying state, was -thankfully- wrapped with a piece of red cloth; it wasn't the first time she had seen this, but no matter how common this sight was to her, she could never get used to it. Ultear felt her knees beginning to fail her and she saw herself falling to the ground and feeling too numb to pick herself up, Gaitō was faster, and he held her still when she wavered, she motioned her head to look up, to face him, but he caught the crown of her head and pressed her against his chest, she closed her eyes and felt herself drift away by the warm of his body. "But I appreciate your concern, Ultear." That was good, he never called her name in such a caring way these days and she wished they could stay like that forever. Silence reigned over the room for what felt like an eternity, the cold air of the coming night letting goose bumps all over her skin, only to be laid down when the heat of her companion's body spread through hers.

And so, Ultear Milkovich fell asleep, once again, embraced by her lover's scarred arm.

(1) The skin color, rippling effect and steam are rather important plot points, but they should be revealed at a much later chapter (something between the tenth and the twentieth chapter).

(2) For those who haven't noticed, on the others scenes in which Gaitō/Hyperion appeared I pictured him with both arms, that wasn't a mistake, that will be explained in the next few chapters.


End file.
